Safety strap for overall pockets



Oct` 14, 1930. o. c. BALLr-:NTINE SAFETY STRAP FOR OVERALL POCKETS -Filed Feb. 2'7 1929 Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UNITED STATS PATENT OFFICE SAFETY STRAP FOB. OVERALL POCKETS Application filed February 27, 1929.

This invention relates to apparel and more particularly to a pair of overalls having means associated therewith to prevent articles from slipping out of pockets of the overi alls. Men who work upon railroads very often carry tools, such as wrenches and the like or time cards and other papers, in the rear or hip pockets of their overalls. During their work it is necessary for the train- 0 men to climb the sides of the cars in order to move from one car to another and it often happens that a time card or wrench placed in a hip pocket will slip out of the pocket without this being noticed and become lost. This causes valuable records to be lost and there is also danger of a wreck occurring if a wrench or other tool should drop upon a rail and be struck by the wheels of a car.

Therefore, an object of the invention is to L0 provide means associated with the overalls adapted to engage a portion of a tool or card projecting upwardly from a pocket and prevent the same from slipping out of the pocket.

Another object ofl the invention is to so 25 form'the loss-preventing device that it may eXtend across the projecting upper portion of an article placed in a pocket and thereby allow the article to be securely held in place while at the same time not preventing it from to being easily withdrawn from the pocket when necessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide an article of this character which may be adjusted and thereby allowed to have so binding engagement with the upper portion of the article and accommodate itself to the thickness of the article.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein d0 Figure l is a view looking` at the back of a pair of overalls and showing a number of articles placed in the rear pockets and sef cured therein by the yimproved loss-preventing devices.

`5 Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l.

The overalls, which are indicated in gen- 50 eral by the numeral l, are of a conventional Serial No. 343,019.

construction and include rear or hip pockets 2 which are sewed along' their sides and lower edges to the overalls and open at their tops. As previously explained, it is .customary for workmen to place tools or time cards and the 3'3 like, such as shown in Fig. l and indicated by the numerals 3 and 4, in their hip pockets and as these articles project upwardly from the pockets they often drop out of a pocket and become lost. to In order to prevent articlesk from slipping out of the pockets, l have provided safety devices which are applied to the overalls above the open upper ends of the pockets in spaced relation thereto. Each of these safety t5 devices consists of a strap 5 which extends horizontally or transversely of the pocket in spaced relation above the open upper end thereof and at one end is irmly secured in the seam between the front and rear por- 'in tions of the overalls, as shown at 6 in Fig. 2. Above the other side of the pocket a tab 7 is sewed or otherwise secured to the overalls and this tab carries a guide or plate 8 having slots 9 and l() formed therein, the i5 tab being passed through the slot 9 and secured, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the guide will be permanently attached to the tab. A slide or buckle 11 is slidably mounted upon the strap 5 and after the strap has been eo passed through the slot 9 of the guide it is carried back upon itself and its end secured about the center bar 12 of the slide and secured, as shown at 13. rTherefore, the strap 5` may be tightened or loosened by moving 3:3 the slide towards or away from the guide 8 and it may be so adjusted that, when a time card or tool, such as a wrench, is placed in a pocket with a portion projecting upwardly, the projecting upper portion will extend beto tween the safety strap and the overalls and the safety strap may have binding vengagement with the projecting upper portion of the article and prevent this article from being liable to slip out of a persons pocket and become lost. In view of the fact that the strap is adjustable, it may accommodate itself to either a thin article or a thicker article, such as a wrench or a book or number of cards and papers. Ordinarily the strap will 100 be sufficiently loose to allow the article to be withdrawn when necessary but if eXtra safety is desired the' strap may be tightened to such an extent that it will be necessary to 5 loosen it before the article can be removed. I have, therefore, provided a safety device which will be very effective in its operation and may be very easily applied to overalls of a conventional construction.

10 Having thus described the invention, I

claim:

The combination with overalls provided with an upwardly opening pocketyof a sectional guard disposed above the open end of 15 the pocket and including a tab permanently attached at one end to the overalls and havf ing` a guide at its free end, a strap; permanently attached at one end to the overalls and loosely 'engaging the guide at the end 2O of the tab, and a buckle slidable on the strap between the said guide and the permanently attached end of the strap and having the free end of the latter attached to the said buckle.

In testimony whereof I aliix m signature.

ORA C. BALLENTIN [L s] 

